Low-Profile Scanner Antenna
by David Harvey VK2DMH on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 | 1 Comment
Can I use my truck’s radio antenna to feed my police band radio scanner as well?
I want to install a police radio scanner into my truck, so I can hear what’s happening around me while I am driving.
What I want to know is… Can use my existing AM/FM broadcast radio antenna – the one I listen to music stations on – as the scanner antenna on my truck?
What if I go and buy a Y-adapter and connect one cable into the radio and have the other one plug into the scanner? If so, would I be able to use both the vhf/uhf scanner and the AM/FM music radio at the same time?
I want to keep the police scanner and its antenna as low-profile as I can. Any and all suggestions will be gladly considered.
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The actual radio frequencies the two types of radios you will be listening to are vastly different, a police scanner and a broadcast radio.
Probably the only frequencies the truck antenna is actually close to being ideal for would be the FM broadcast band, which is VHF (80-108 MHz) and some other parts of the VHF public service bands (roughly 30-50, 110-136 aircraft band and 150-170 MHz).
AM broadcast band frequencies are low and need a long antenna, while UHF police and public service band frequencies (450-512 MHz) use a much smaller antenna. HOWEVER, all is not lost since you are receiving stuff only. You are not transmitting, so things don’t have to match perfectly…
You will probably find both your radios are forgiving enough that you will be able to receive any strong signals quite well. Weaker signals could be a problem.
I’d suggest you give it a go and see! If you are losing some weak signals you really want to pick up, then you may have to rethink your strategy.